Friday, May 6, 2011

From the very minute I met little man in the hospital, all wrinkly and scaly and dry and scrawny – I knew he and I would have a bond that cannot be broken. My very first words to him were “welcome to the world – I’m your mommy – we’re going to be good friends.” I knew I would love him and protect him – I had absolutely no idea just how much he would love me and give back to me everything I give him and then some.

He is funny – I mean truly funny – the kind of funny that’s not rehearsed or shtick – though it would be cool to say my baby is so smart he’s already developed his own shtick! He’s kind and thoughtful and generous with the hugs and kisses – though his kisses are only just now beginning to be like real little kisses on the cheek! He’s rambunctious and completely one hundred percent all boy! He plays hard, and at the end of the day you know just how hard he’s played by the little dirt lines on the backs of his knees or under his chin. He can be completely grouchy and irritable when he’s tired or hungry. But in the mornings, when I wake him up for school and he’s still slightly half asleep and he lays his head down on my shoulder and tucks his hands under his chest, oh my goodness I could just totally eat him up! He knows my buttons and is learning how to push them – he’s super smart when it comes to testing boundaries! And he’s the biggest flirt to ever walk the planet – just watch him whenever a pretty little brunette girl enters the room – he knows how to catch their eyes and flirt like a mad man! Who on Earth would have ever imagined ME saying those things five years ago?

It’s been quite a while since I’ve updated my blog – and there are many reasons why this is so, but I’m going to skip the litany of weird things that have been happening lately and focus only on a few things that have held significance for me and my family.

The happiest thing thus far is that my little baby has become a big boy. He recently celebrated his first birthday (monkey themed of course) and is starting to blossom into quite the young man. He celebrated in true monkey fashion with Grandma and Uncle John and some dear friends of the family beside the new pool. The funniest thing of all though is finding out that my little monkey doesn’t like to get his hands dirty with cake! He definitely didn’t want to smash his smash cake, but if I held it up to his face, he was plenty happy to nibble on it.

Now that he’s over a year old he’s also moved up to the big boy room at school! When he was in Infant 1A and Infant 1B he never napped. He would maybe sleep thirty minutes a day, if that. But now that he’s in a room with more structure, he’s napping two hours a day which makes for a much happier monkey in the evenings! He’s also learning how to sign more – we can sign “more” “milk” “please” “thank you” “all done” and “juice”. And his babbling is starting to take on more adult like babble – I can tell he’s trying to tell me things; I’m not just sure what they are yet – though he does a pretty good imitation of Evan calling Gabriel a G-D Dog, oops!

We had another child placed with us recently – an infant girl – and we found out very quickly that little monkey is most definitely NOT okay with being a big brother yet. The minute he saw me carrying her in her carrier at his school, he turned to Miss Ella, started crying and demanded that she pick him up. She actually had to carry him out to the car for me. My goodness the little green monster took hold of him so quickly! If it was time to feed the baby, he had to be up in my lap too. If she made a sound, he was right there looking over into her bassinette all sorts of up in her business. About five days into the new placement, little monkey started getting very sick with very high fevers. I was terrified of the new baby catching something from him while she was still so young, so when I started to get sick too, I had to have placement move her to another family. I felt awful about that though because I was thoroughly enjoying having a little girl around. It turns out that it was a good thing she moved when she did though because both monkey and I got very sick.

And now we’ve come up on Mother’s Day again, and monkey had his daddy bring me some flowers at work! They are so pretty and delicate – and I’m so happy to have them! I love being a mom. I have to say that it’s hands-down the most awesome thing I’ve ever done. This is my second Mother’s Day being a mom, and I am quite happy to say I look forward to this feeling for many years to come!

About Me

I define myself by my motherhood first and foremost. My children are definitely the part of my life of which I am the most proud. It took a long time for those babies to come to me - and as a foster-turned-adoptive parent, I can tell you that it was a hard fought battle keeping them safe while they navigated the system of care. After seeing what happens in dependency through their cases and the other dozen babies we had over the last five years, I have become a fierce advocate for the needs and rights of children in Florida's foster care system. I am wife to my handsome, hunky, hottie-professor recovery chief, Evan and friend to most all who meet me. My oldest son and I have recently taken up taekwondo - and that journey itself has been an eye opener! Welcome to my little piece of the internet, enjoy my ramblings, take them with a grain of salt and have fun!